New reports of Apple iPhone 5 with 4-inch 16:9 screen?

In a report recently compiled by KGI Research analyst Mingchi Kuo, key aspects expected to grace Apple’s next iPhone have been confirmed based on information provided by reliable sources Mr Kuo has used in the past. The crux of the report highlights the strong possibility of a 16:9, 4.08-inch display.

We’d already picked up word of Apple’s plans to finally leave the realms of 3.5-inches behind, but most recently the iPhone 5 was expected to make use of a 3.999-inch display. According to the report picked up by AppleInsider and Mingchi’s sources, components offering up a 4.08-inch display capable of 500-nits of brightness have been spotted in the production process.

The main thing to expect from the new iPhone’s display will be that Apple intend to maintain its current width of 640 pixels, whilst increasing the height to 1136 pixels, pushing the aspect ratio firmly in the direction of 16:9.

The report explains that the advantages of simply making the display taller, negates any issues of app back-compatibility, with older applications simply becoming letterboxed on the new phone’s display. Mr Kuo also expects that the current battery capacity of 1432mAh found in the iPhone 4S will endure with the introduction of the new iPhone, as the screen size would have to exceed 4.3-inches before Apple would even consider bumping up battery capacity, adding notable physical thickness to the device in the process.

Apple have shown great restraint with the current iPhone lineup, maintaining a near enough identical hardware layout between every iteration of the iPhone. The iPhone 5 will be the first device to offer users a 4-inch+ screen size, as well as an expected return to a metal-backed design. As shown in the diagrams above, the front facing camera is also expected to move up above the ear piece much like the iPod Touch’s. There’s only a short time before WWDC 2012, where many hope (us included) Apple will pull the wraps of the iPhone 5 officially.